Bank branch manager accused of pilfering accounts

Authorities say John Douglas took nearly $27,000 from customers at a BB&T branch.

By JOEL ANDERSON, Times Staff Writer
Published January 1, 2008

SPRING HILL - The branch manager of a BB&T bank in Spring Hill faces 23 charges after being accused of stealing nearly $27,000 from at least six bank customers.

John Douglas, 43, of Spring Hill was arrested at his home Monday morning by a detective with the Hernando County Sheriff's Office.

Douglas is charged with 11 counts of grand theft, seven of identity theft, two each of forgery and uttering a forged instrument and one count of tampering with evidence.

Douglas was held in the county jail Monday in lieu of $44,000 bail.

Authorities were first alerted to Douglas, who worked at BB&T at 5331 Spring Hill Drive, through one of the bank's fraud investigators. Several bank customers had reported problems with their accounts to the BB&T investigator and once fraud was confirmed, the bank turned over the information to Hernando County authorities Wednesday.

Dating to at least October 2006, Douglas stole money from the accounts of at least six customers, according to an arrest report.

In one instance from a little more than a ago, a customer told authorities he noticed about $1,500 was missing from a line of credit account he'd recently opened with assistance from Douglas.

When the customer noticed the discrepancy, he brought it to Douglas' attention and the money was soon returned to the account.

The same customer told authorities that his monthly statements were being sent to the bank instead of his home. - most likely to prevent him from seeing the fraudulent transactions in his account.

"This does, however, give a clear indication that this fraud activity may have been occurring for two years," the report said.

Hernando County authorities have advised anyone suspecting suspicious activity in their bank accounts to contact their bank branch.

Joel Anderson can be reached at joelanderson@sptimes.com or 754-6120.

[Last modified December 31, 2007, 19:33:48]